Hopper car



Sept. 29, 1931. W F KHESELq JR f 1,825,235

HOPPER CAR v Filed Sept. 25, 1930 2 SheetsSheet l 75 J9 INVENTOR: 20 Jfiesegj' TORNE YS.

Sept. 2.9, 1931. w. F. KIESEL, .JR

HOPPER CAR Filed sept. 25, 195o 2 sheetssheet 2 INVENTOR: J/l/lzamfjfzesei; BY m ToRNEYs.

f, #aww Patented sept.' 2s, 1931 UNITED STATES WILLIAM F. XIESEL, JR., F HOLLIDAYS:BURGI PENNSYLVANIA norma can Appli-cation led September 25, 1930. Serial No. 484,258. l

19 contents may be discharged through the bottom doors; the car may be bodily overturned by an upsetting device; or the contents may be scooped out by buckets or shovels. The object of the present invention is to provide transverse partitions or gussets dividing the car body into separate compartments, the

partitions being so designed and related tol the surroundin bearers for r1g1 arts as to form crossg the body and at the same time facilitating, or at least in no wise impedin the :discharge of the contents by any of tlgie above methods.

Other objects and advantages characterizing my'invention will be apparent from the detailed description, which follows hereinafter, of one embodiment or example of the invention as applied to a.V hopper car, having reference to the accompanying drawings,

whereof:

Fig. I represents a top plan view of a section of a hopper carv adjacent one set of twin-hoppers.

Fig. II represents a side elevation of the (same with a ortion 'of the side wall cut awa at one o the transverse partitions.

Fig. III represents a transverse section of the car at one of the transverse partitions taken as indicated by the lines III-III of Fi I; and,

Fig. IV vrepresents an enlarged crosssection taken at the center sill as indicated by the lines IV-IV of Fig. III.

With particular reference to Figs. I and 'II there is shown a section of a hopper car,

trating the manner in which the hoppers are formed throughout the car body. The side walls 1 are'supported at intervals of their length by stakes 2 and are preferably 5 formed with theirupperpo'rtions A3 inclined representative of succeeding sections, illusupwardly toward the center of the car, the stakes -2 having extensions 4 on the outside of the side walls 1 terminating in top rails 5 in the form of Z-bars with their downturned anges 6 riveted to the side walls. 86

At their bottom edges the lside walls 1 areA turned inward at 7 as shown in Fig. III, and are riveted to bottom chords 8 of the side trusses in the form of relatively thick plates disposedV at an angle of approxi- 00 mately degrees with the side walls 1.

The hoppers comprise side sheets 9 with their upper edges inclined outward and upward and riveted to the bottomv chords 8 and abutting the 'lower edges of the side 65 walls 1, slope sheets 10 riveted to the side sheets, and hinged doors 11, the hoppers bef' ing arranged-in pairs at both sides of the center sill 12. Between successive hopper compartments, there areftwo sets of crossridge sheets 13 and 22, the sheets 22 overlapping the sheets 13 and each set comprising sheets sloping downward in opposite directions to facihtate the discharge of the car contents. Additional inclined sheets 14:V 75

running longitudinally of the car slope olf from the center sill 12 toward the hoppers and are riveted to the slope sheets 10.

The partitions between hopper compartments comprisefa U-shaped gusset preferably formed of two triangular plates 15 disposed at the sides of the car and a central filler plate 16itting therebetween. The triangular gusset plates 15 are secured at their outer' edges to opposite side stakes 2 in the form of angles which in turn are riveted to the side walls 1. A continuous reinforcing strip 17 anchored at its ends to the side stakes 2 extends from one side of the car to the other and covers the upper edgeso the 9 gusset, the strip 17 comprising Aa flat plate bent around the upper margins ofthe gussetA plates to s completely surround their top edges and curved with respect to its length to substantially a U-shape to conform with the sharply inclined top edges of the triangular plates 15 and the concaved top edge of the central filler plate 16. The filler plate 16 is cut away at the bottom to accommodat'e the center sill 12, the bottom 'n'o The angles 19 hold riveted between their opposed flanges 20 the bottom edges of the gusset plates 15 and 16. At the center of the car the angles 19 join the ends of the reinforcing strip 18 and pass under the center sill 12y to which they "are riveted. The cross ridge sheets 13 and 22 have opposed flanges 21 and 23 riveted to the gusset plates 15 and 16'.

'It will be evident that the gusset plates 15 and 16 serve not only as partitions between ho per compartments but as crossbearers, tlie plates beingprotected and stii ened at their top edges by the U-shaped reinforcing strip 17, at the outer edges by the side stakes 2, and at their bottom edges by the transverse angles 19 and the inverted U-shaped reinforcing strip 18. The provision of a U-shaped opening at the top of the partitions formed y the gusset plates permits the unloading of the major portion of the car contents by buckets or scoops, the strength of the partition as a cross-bearer being nevertheless undiminished and the top edge of the same being amply reinforced by the continuous strip 17 extending the full width of the car.

In the arrangement herein described, sharp angles, cavities or projections at which water, coal, dirt,y or other matter likely to accelerate corrosion or deterioration, may accumulate have been conspicuously avoided,

' and the hopper side sheets 9 and slope sheets 10 leading to the bottom doors 11 have been designed to facilitate the discharge of the load. At the bottom of the sidewalls 1, the

provision of bottom chords 8 in the form of fiat plates inclined inwardly and downward toward the center of the car to which areriveted the abutting edges of the side walls 1 and hopper side sheets 9 results in a gradually inward ysloping side. At the partitions and at the center sills the crossridge sheets 13 and 22 and longitudinal sheets 14.- are'similarly sloped downward toward the hoppers. l

' hile I have described my invention with reference to one embodiment thereof in a hopper car, it will be apparent, especially to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosedwithout de arting from the spirit of the invention as eined in the claims hereto annexed, and that certain features of the invention may at times be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:-

` 1. In va freight car, a number of hoppers, l

a center sill running longitudinally through said hoppers, and a transverse partition between said hoppers, said partition comprising a gusset extending from one side of the car to the other and having a U-shaped opening at the top, and said partition serving as a cross-bearer to support the center sill from the sides of the car.

2. In a freight car, a number of hoppers, a transverse gusset between said hoppers, said gusset comprising two triangular plates and a central filler plate forming therewith a U-shaped partition extending from one side of the car to the other, and a reinforcing strip covering the upper edges of said plates.l

3. In a freight car, a number of hoppers, a center sill running longitudinally between said hoppers and a cross-bearer forming a transverse partition between said hoppers, said cross-bearer comprising a transverse reinforcing member joining the sides of the car above said center sill, said upper reinforcing member being sharply inclined from its-ends toward the center, and a flat plate extending across the car between said upper and lower transverse members.

4. In a freight car, a number of hoppers, a center sill running longitudinally through said hoppers and a gusset forming a transverse partition between said hoppers, said gusset comprising a U-shaped reinforcing strip extending lfrom one side of the car to the other above the center sill, an inverted U-shaped reinforcing strip partially ,sur-y and having a U-shaped opening at the top,

and a continuous reinforcing strip in the form of a flat plate bent over the upper edge of said gusset and secured at its ends to opposite side stakes.

6. In a freight car, a number of hoppers, a center sill running longitudinally of said hopipers, and a transverse partition between sai hoppers, said transverse partition comprising two triangular platesydisposed at the sides of the car and a central filler plate having an opening in the bottom thereof to accommodate the center sill, and havin a top edge forming with said triangular p ates a U-shaped opening extending from one side of the car to the other.

7. In a freight car, a number o'f hoppers,

testfase a center sill running longitudinally of said hoppers, and a transverse partition between said hoppers, said transverse partition comprising two triangular plates disposed at the sides of the car and a central ller plate having an opening in the bottom thereof to accommodate the center sill and having a concaved top edge, and a reinforcing strip covering the top edges of said plates and lo extending from one side of the carto the other. l

8. In a freight ear, a number of hoppers, a center sill running longitudinally through said hoppers, side trusses having bottom chords and side stakes secured thereto, and

a cross-bearer between said hoppers, said l cross-bearer includin a U-shaped reinforcing strip extending rom one side stake to another above the center sill, an additional reinforcing strip extending across the car beneath the center sill and joining said bottom chords, and a gusset filling the interspace between said reinforcin stri s.

In testimony whereof, I ave hereunto signed my name at Altoona, Pennsylvania,

this 22nd day of September 1930.

WILLIAM F. kIEsEL, JR. 

